New Zealanders have been told to expect a boom in the baby boom in their lifetimes as the country’s population increases and baby boomers enter retirement.
New Zealand’s Department of Primary Industries said the population of babies will grow from a current level of 4.6 million to 7.4 million by 2036, or around 3.3 per cent.
The department said the rise in births will have a huge impact on the economy.
Newborns will be the fastest growing group in the country.
“Babies are going to be a significant part of our future economic growth and the growth of the country,” Dr Anne O’Sullivan, a departmental adviser, said.
New Zealand will see the greatest growth in the number of babies aged 1 to 4, which is expected to be around one million.
The number of births will be lower than the country has seen in decades.
“We’ve seen a little bit of a lull in the last few years, but we’re not expecting that to last,” Dr O’Shea said.
“The baby boom has been very healthy for New Zealand, so we’re definitely going to see more births in the next 10 years than we’ve had in the past.”
The department said New Zealand will be one of the countries most impacted by a downturn in the value of its currency, the NZD.
In 2020, New Zealand’s currency is set to fall to 1.20 US dollars.
Babies will be more expensive than in previous years because they have a longer incubation period, meaning a higher proportion of them will have to be born prematurely.
Newzoo said the impact of the baby boomer generation is expected be felt in the coming years.
“We’re going to have to keep our eye on this and we’re certainly going to continue to monitor the economy,” Dr Aimee O’Brien, head of research at the New Zealand Institute of Technology, said Newzox said the biggest impact will be felt among older people and those who are single.
“I think there’s going to still be a lot of growth out there, but the biggest thing is we’ll have to adapt to a new reality,” Dr Denny McCaw, a research fellow at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, said